Peaceful Mornings
by Devon Shea
Summary: Elyan enjoys a peaceful morning after he returns to Camelot. Set the morning of "The Coming of Arthur".


Mornings in Camelot had a peaceful quality that Elyan hadn't appreciated when he was a boy. Maybe he just had to leave it long enough to have missed it. Maybe it was the fact that his sister was asleep in the other room and he got to listen to her little snuffling; snuffling he hadn't heard for too many years. He held the mug of warm cider in his hands as he watched the sun come up over the city walls, the white turning a brilliant orange for just a brief moment before the sun rose and lit a path. Yes, he had definitely missed this.

Turning toward the sound of his sister rising from bed, he smiled and held out his arm. Gwen ducked under it and they watched the rest of the sunrise together, like they had when they were children, with Gwen's head resting on his shoulder while they stood in the window.

"I need to go start the forge up." Elyan stayed where he was, though.

"And I need to go up to the castle." Gwen didn't move either.

Elyan clucked at her, "You mean you're not going to make your poor, famished brother some breakfast before he goes off to work?"

Gwen simply elbowed him in the stomach before he could dodge. Gwen certainly had sharp elbows. "You're the one who woke up first, Elyan." She tilted her head toward the mug of cider, "You obviously had enough time to light the fire to heat up cider, why not some porridge?"

He chuckled. "I did, Gwennie. It's probably ready by now."

Gwen smiled, leaned up and pressed a kiss against her brother's cheek. "Thank you, Elyan. I'll make breakfast tomorrow."

"Deal." He let go of her shoulders and walked back into the small kitchen, grabbing two bowls from the shelf as he passed. The porridge was just bubbly and he spooned it into the bowls, setting them on the table. Gwen refilled the mug he'd placed by his seat with more cider and poured some for herself, too. The two of them worked efficiently in the small area, having had enough time to work out how they each moved again after Elyan had moved back to Camelot.

Elyan enjoyed the time with his sister. He had always regretted leaving her. If he had been able to get along better with his father, they would never have had to rebuild their relationship. Sometimes Elyan could still feel the distance between them. Gwen had grown up. She was strong, far stronger than he would have imagined she could be. And he had missed seeing it happen.

"So, what are your plans for the day?"

Elyan snorted as he sat at the table. They had just enough time to eat together before they had to leave. "I have nails to make. Lots of nails."

Gwen grinned. "Who's building?"

"Dagon. He's building a new stable for the horses he trades, so he needs nails. He came to me because he knew I couldn't charge him a ridiculous amount since I'm still rebuilding the business."

"I'm sorry I couldn't keep the business going, Elyan. Between my sewing and taking care of Morgana-"

Elyan laid his hand over hers. "You kept the forge. That was the most important thing. I didn't have to start from scratch. I may have been raised here, but there were other smiths that stepped into dad's shoes when he died. I have to prove myself."

"And you are."

"Yes, I am, but it will still take a bit of time to gain the reputation dad had."

Gwen nodded. Elyan was right. His time away, even while in the employ of other masters had given competition a chance to take hold. He would build his reputation up, though. He was determined.

"And what are you doing today?"

Gwen chuckled. "Same as every other day. Taking care of Morgana. Oh, and I have some embroidery to do for Lady Sunny. She wants some embellishment on that blue dress of hers. I think I'm going to stitch a row of petunias on the sleeves and maybe alternate petunias and vines on the collar. Or vines and petunias on the collar and vines on the sleeves. I have to ask her today which she'd like better."

"Leon's coming home today, right?"

"I think so. At least, the patrol is due today. Merlin was saying something about it when we were doing laundry yesterday."

Elyan grinned, "Maybe I'll see if he's up to a little practice later. It's been a while since we've sparred. I mean what kind of self-respecting swordsmith would I be if I didn't take advantage of a childhood friend to show off my newest swords to his knightly friends?"

Gwen just shook her head and tsked at him, "Trying to sell to them while you fight?"

"Well-" Elyan didn't finish the sentence as he shrugged and stood to clear off his bowl. It was time to start up the forge so he could make Dagon's nails. Maybe he'd put in some time on the stock swords he was making after he was done so he'd have some more to sell to the knights when he was finished sparring with Leon. After all, he wasn't going to build his reputation by making nails alone. Leon already carried one of his swords. It would only help his reputation if more of the knights did the same.

By the time he and Gwen finished tidying up, it was time to start their respective days. He waved Gwen off and headed to the forge, the simple joy of a peaceful morning buoying his step as he started up the fire.

* * *

**This is set the morning the episode "The Coming of Arthur" begins.**

**Merlin belongs to Shine and the BBC.**


End file.
